Byron White

“ For this reason, "Courts of justice are universally acknowledged to be vested, by their very creation, with power to impose silence, respect, and decorum, in their presence, and submission to their lawful mandates." ”

“ But if in the informed discretion of the court, neither the statute nor the rules are up to the task, the court may safely rely on its inherent power.
Like the Court of Appeals, we find no abuse of discretion in resorting to the inherent power in the circumstances of this case. It is true that the District Court could have employed Rule 11 to sanction Chambers for filing "false and frivolous pleadings," 124 F.R.D., at 138, and that some of the other conduct might have been reached through other rules. ”

“ Interrupting the proceedings on the merits to conduct sanctions hearings may serve only to reward a party seeking delay. More importantly, while the sanction was not assessed until the conclusion of the litigation, Chambers received repeated timely warnings both from NASCO and the court that his conduct was sanctionable. Cf. Thomas v. Capital Security Services, Inc., 836 F.2d 866, 879-881 (CA5 1988) (en banc) . Consequently, the District Court's reliance on the inherent power did not represent an end run around the notice requirements of Rule 11. ”

“ It is clear, though, that this general rule focuses on the award of attorney's fees because of a party's success on the underlying claim. Thus, in Frank L. Beier Radio, Inc. v. Black Gold Marine, Inc., 449 So.2d 1014 (La.1984) , the state court considered the scope of a statute which permitted an award of attorney's fees in a suit seeking to collect on an open account. Id., at 1015. This substantive state policy is not implicated here, where sanctions were imposed for conduct during the litigation. ”

“ In the interlude between the trial and the entry of judgment during which the District Court prepared its opinion, Chambers sought to render the purchase agreement meaningless by seeking permission from the FCC to build a new transmission tower for the station and to relocate the transmission facilities to that site, which was not covered by the agreement. Only after NASCO sought contempt sanctions did Chambers withdraw the application. ”

“ Nevertheless, "we do not lightly assume that Congress has intended to depart from established principles" such as the scope of a court's inherent power. Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U.S. 305, 313, 102 S.Ct. 1798, 1803, 72 L.Ed.2d 91 (1982) ; see also Link, 370 U.S., at 631-632, 82 S.Ct., at 1389-1390. In Alyeska we determined that "Congress ha [d] not repudiated the judicially fashioned exceptions" to the American Rule, which were founded in the inherent power of the courts. ”

“ The motion was denied, as was the subsequent writ of mandamus filed in the Court of Appeals.↑ To make his point clear, the District Judge gave counsel copies of Judge Schwarzer's then-recent article, Sanctions Under the New Federal Rule 11-A Closer Look, 104 F.R.D. 181 (1985) .↑ Gray had resigned as counsel for Chambers and CTR several months previously.↑ In calculating the award, the District Court deducted the amounts previously awarded as compensatory damages for contempt, as well as the amount awarded as appellate sanctions. ”